Tech Stuff - DOM-2 HTMLOptionElement

Extends the HTMLElement interface. W3C HTMLOptionElement Reference. Part of the HTML Interface

Returns OPTION to the nodeName attribute.

Each <option> can be allocated an id in which case it can be directly accessed using getelementById. However <option> can only exist inside a <select> tag so <option>is normally accesed as an array using the options attribute of HTMLSelectElement.

Usage and Examples

To find the currently selected <option> in a <select> element:

// javascript fragment
// get the HMLSelectElement
select = document.getElementById{"list");
// loop through the options
for(i = 0; i < combo.options.length; i++){
 // the selected attribute eturns TRUE if currently selected
 if(select.options[i].selected){
  val = select.options[i].value; // use value to identify
	txt = select.options[i].text; // parse text to identify
	// OR get HTMLOptionElemement
	opt = select.options[i]
	val = opt.value;
	txt = opt.text
 }
}

// HTML fragment
<select id="list" size="1">
<option value="1">List Item 1</option>
<option value="2">List Item 2</option>
<option value="1" selected>List Item 2</option>
1</select>

Related Information

createElement method. W3C HTMLElement Reference.

Methods and Attributes

Attributes: defaultSelected, disabled, form, index, label, selected, text, value

Methods: none

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